Bottle cap remover

ABSTRACT

This bottle cap remover includes a unitary body having an opening adapted to receive a bottle cap of the type having circumferential ribs and grooves. The opening defines a side wall and an end closure wall, the side wall including a corresponding number of ribs and grooves compatibly shaped to suit the ribs and grooves of the cap. The closure wall is engageable by the cap to facilitate the cap removal, which is effectuated by twisting the body.

United States Patent 1 Heine 1 BOTTLE CAP REMOVER [75] Inventor: CharlesA. Heine, Imperial, Mo.

[73] Assignee: Alexander Manufacturing Company,

St. Louis, M0.

221 Filed: Jan.3,1972

211 Appl. No.: 214,866

[52] US. Cl 8l/3.4, 7/14.6, 7/1 C [51] Int. Cl B67b 7/18 [58] Field ofSearch 81/34, 3.34, 3.43; 7/146, 1 C

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Dl84,726 3/1959 Gill 81/342,423,145 7/1947 I-Ialm 81/334 2,746,631 5/1956 Witz 81/34 [11]3,812,741 1 May 28, 1974 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 14,103 0/1908GreatBritain ..81/3.34 44,336 10/1938 Netherlands ..8l/3.4

Primary Examiner-Al Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Roscoe V. Parker[57] ABSTRACT This bottle cap remover includes a unitary body having anopening adapted to receive a bottle cap of the type havingcircumferential ribs and grooves. The opening defines a side wall and anend closure wall, the side wall including a corresponding number of ribsand grooves compatibly shaped to suit the ribs and grooves of the cap.The closure wall is engageable by the cap to facilitate the cap removal,which is effectuated by twisting the body.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures 1 BOTTLE CAP REMOVER This invention relatesgenerally to an improved bottle cap remover and more particularly to aremover for use with twist-off bottle caps.

In the past attempts have been made to provide means of assisting theremoval of the caps of bottles and jars, which are difficult to removeby hand alone. The prior art includes examples of rubber ringsparticularly adapted for removing jar tops. Such removers typicallyinclude either a roughened inner surface or provide a plurality ofyieldable, flexible projections. In each case the removal action relieson surface friction contact between the device and the jar top. Otherdevices in the art include an inflexible, open conical ring of metalhaving inner grooves to assist in gripping a relatively smooth cap.

The known prior art does not reveal a cap remover which is compatiblystructured to mate with the cap to be removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This bottle cap remover is so structured toprovide mating elements engageable with the ribs of twist-off bottlecaps to assist in the removal of such caps.

The remover is of unitary construction and can be adapted for use withthe rib serrations of both beer bottle and soda bottle caps.

One species of the device is adapted to remove more than one type of capand yet remains compact and easy to use.

The bottle cap remover comprises essentially a body including an openingreceiving the cap and an arcuate side wall portion having a plurality ofcompatible ribs and grooves matable with the ribs and grooves of thecap. The body includes an abutment means transversely disposed of theside wall and engageable by the end wall of the cap. The body side wallportion is substantially annular and the ribs and grooves are evenlyspaced circumferentially of the side wall portion and in a directiongenerally parallel with the annular wall axis.

The side wall portion includes an outer hand engageable gripping meansand the gripping means includes a projecting lug by which additionalleverage may be applied to the cap to be removed.

A second embodiment of the cap remover is adapted to suit more than onetype of bottle cap and to this end includes a second row ofcircumferentially disposed ribs adjacently disposed of the first row andprojecting radially inwardly a greater distance than said first row toreceive a cap of smaller diameter than the cap operatively engageable bythe first row. The second row of ribs defines an abutment meansengageable by the first cap and the closure wall is engageable by thesecond cap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thebottle cap remover from the underside;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view illustrating the bottle cap remover in crosssection;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modified structure;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the modified structure in cross sectionand in use with one type of bottle cap;

FIG. 5 is a similar view of the bottle cap remover in use with adifferent type of bottle cap, and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail of the modified structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now by characters ofreference to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1 and 2 it will beunderstood that the bottle cap remover includes a unitary, substantiallycylindrical body molded from a relatively inflexible plastic material,such as polypropolene, or metal. The body 10 includes an opening 11defined by a sidewall 12 and an end wall 13. A lug 14 projects radiallyoutwardly from the side wall 12 and is apertured to suit a key chain 15.The side wall 12 is substantially annular in configuration and includesa plurality of alternating ribs and grooves 16 and 17 respectivelycircumferentially disposed and substantially evenly spaced about theinner surface of said side wall 12. The ribs and grooves are oriented ina direction substantially parallel with the axis of the annular sidewall 12 but may be slightly tapered if desired. The outer surface of theside wall 12 is provided with a plurality of serrations generallyindicated by numeral 18.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 is adapted to suit a bottle cap 20,having a circumferential side wall 21 and an integrally formed endclosure wall 22, of the type commonly used on beer bottles, such as thatindicated by numeral 23, which are provided with a helical thread 24 topermit the cap to be removed by twisting. This cap 20 is provided with21 grooves and ribs 25 and 26 respectively. It will be understood thatthe ribs and grooves 16 and 17 provided on the inner surface of the sidewall 12 correspond in number to the grooves and ribs 25 and 26 and areof a compatible shape.

The cap 20 is receivable within the opening 11 of the body 10 so thatthe ribs and grooves 16 and l7 of'said cap are mated with the groovesand ribs 25 and 26 of the body when the cap end wall 22 is engaged bythe inside face 19 of the body end wall 13, said body end wallconstituting an abutment means. By hand-gripping the body 10 andtwisting said body and cap 20 together the cap is easily removed. Theserrations 18 provide a suitable gripping surface and the projecting lug14 provides additional leverage should such leverage be required.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 is adapted to suit twobottle caps of different configuration and having different numbers ofribs and grooves. Preferably this embodiment is adapted to suit the beerbottle cap already described and a'bottle cap 50 of the type commonlyused on soda bottles such as that indicated by numeral 53.

In order to accomplish this dual purpose the bottle cap remover includesa body 30 having an opening 31 defining a side wall 32 and a transverseend wall 33.

The side wall 32 is subsantially annular in configration and includes afirst row 40 of alternating ribs and grooves 41 and 42 respectively,circumferentially disposed and substantially evenly spaced about theinner surface of said side wall 12. The side wall 32 also includes asecond, adjacent, row 43 of ribs and grooves 44 and 45 respectively,which are likewise circumferentially disposed and substantially evenlyspaced about the inner surface of said side wall 12. A lug 34 projectsfrom the body and is apertured to suit a key chain 35.

The outer surface of the side wall 32 is provided with a plurality ofserrations 36 to facilitate gripping.

The first row 40 provides ribs and grooves 41 and 42 which are adaptedto suit the grooves and ribs 25 and 26 of the cap 20. As shown in FIGS.4 and 5, the second row 43 is provided with ribs and grooves 44 and 45,which are adapted to suit a different cap as will be described. It willbe observed that the ribs 44 of the second row 43 project radiallyinwardly of the ribs 41 of the first row 40 and the adjacent ends ofsaid ribs 44 thereby provide an intermittent ledge, generally indicatedby numeral 46, constituting an abutment means. As shown in FIG. 4, thecap 20 is receivable within the outer portion of the opening 31 of thebody 30 so that the ribs and grooves 16 and 17 of said cap are matedwith the grooves and ribs 41 and 42 of the body when the cap end wall 22is engaged by the intermittent ledge 46.

As shown in FIG. the opening 31 is also adapted to receive a bottle cap50 having a circumferential side wall 51 and an integrally formed endclosure wall 52 of the type commonly used on soda bottles such as thatindicated by numeral 53, which are provided with a helical thread (notshown) to permit the cap 50 to be removed by twisting. This cap 50 isprovided with 40 grooves and ribs 54 and 55 respectively. It will beunderstood that the ribs and grooves 43 and 44 provided by-the secondrow 43 correspond in number and are compatibly shaped to suit the capgrooves and ribs 54 and 55 and that the diameter of the cap 50 in thevicinity of the grooves and ribs 54 and 55 is less than the diameter ofthe first, outer, row of ribs 41 to permit the cap 50 to be receivedinto the opening 31.

The cap 50 is receivable within the opening 31 of the body 30 so thatthe grooves and ribs 54 and 55 of said cap are mated with thecorresponding ribs and grooves 44 and 45 of the body when the cap endwall 52 is engaged by the inside face 39 of the body end wall 33.

The modified device is used in a manner similar to that described abovefor the first species with the exception that when used for removing cap20, the cap is only partially inserted within the opening 31.

It will be understood that if desired the number of ribs and grooves inthe first species can be adapted to suit a bottle cap having a differentspecific number of ribs and grooves than that shown. Thus, although theembodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes 21 ribs and grooves andis therefore adapted to suit a conventional twist-off beer bottle cap'it could be provided with forty ribs and grooves and be of such adiameter that it would suit a conventional twist-off soda bottle cap.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate a bottle cap remover which is suitable formore than one type of cap, such caps having different numbers of ribsand grooves of different configuration. lt will be understood that theribs adapted to suit the cap of larger diameter are disposed radiallyoutwardly of, and closer to the mouth of the opening than, those adaptedto suit the cap of smaller diameter.

1 claim as my invention:

1. A bottle cap remover for removing one twist-off bottle cap having aplurality of circumferential ribs and grooves and another twist-offbottle cap having a different number of ribs and grooves, the bottle capremover comprising:

a. a body including? 1. an annular side wall defining an opening andhaving a first row of ribs-and grooves disposed about the mouth of theopening, and equal in number and compatibily formed to receive and matewith the ribs and grooves of one of said bottle caps and having a secondrow of ribs and grooves spaced from the mouth of the opening and equalin number and compatibly formed to receive and mate with the ribs andgrooves of the other of said bottle caps, said second row of spaced ribsprojecting radially inwardly of the first row to provide anintermittentabutment means engageable by said one cap, the radially outer limits ofsaid second row and the radially inner limits of said first row beingsubstantially coincident,

2. an end wall integrally formed with the side wall and engageable bysaid other cap, and

3. gripping means including a lug projecting outwardly of the body.

1. A bottle cap remover for removing one twist-off bottle cap having aplurality of circumferential ribs and grooves and another twist-offbottle cap having a different number of ribs and grooves, the bottle capremover comprising: a. a body including:
 1. an annular side walldefining an opening and having a first row of ribs and grooves disposedabout the mouth of the opening, and equal in number and compatibilyformed to receive and mate with the ribs and grooves of one of saidbottle caps and having a second row of ribs and grooves spaced from themouth of the opening and equal in number and compatibly formed toreceive and mate with the ribs and grooves of the other of said bottlecaps, said second row of spaced ribs projecting radially inwardly of thefirst row to provide an intermittent abutment means engageable by saidone cap, the radially outer limits of said second row and the radiallyinner limits of said first row being substantially coincident,
 2. an endwall integrally formed with the side wall and engageable by said othercap, and
 3. gripping means including a lug projecting outwardly of thebody.
 2. an end wall integrally formed with the side wall and engageableby said other cap, and
 3. gripping means including a lug projectingoutwardly of the body.